It is known to provide a truck body with a cable hoist apparatus for loading and unloading a container with respect to the truck body. In a common design, the truck body includes a frame assembly comprising stationary subframe and a top frame pivotally mounted on the subframe, and one or more hydraulic actuators are arranged to selectably tilt the top frame relative to the subframe for loading and unloading operations. The cable hoist apparatus works in conjunction with actuation of the top frame to pull a container onto the top frame during loading and controllably allow the container to roll off the top frame during unloading. An example of this common design is disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 8,029,228 owned by the present applicant. In this type of cable hoist apparatus, it is necessary to attach an end of the hoisting cable to the top frame, which acts as a structural ground. As may be understood, the other end of the cable is releasably attached to the container.
FIG. 1A shows a front section of a top frame 12 to which a cable end 20 of a cable 18 is attached by a configuration widely used in the prior art. In the known configuration, a thimble 13 is arranged through an attachment opening 14 in frame 12, and the cable end 20 is looped around thimble 13 through attachment opening 14. As shown in FIG. 1A, the cable end is folded back to provide overlapping cable segments which are clamped together by a series of clamps 15. The cable 18 may be routed through a sheave 16 rotatably journalled on frame 12 as the cable makes its way to the container (not shown). This attachment configuration is effective to attach a cable that lacks an end fitting. However, cable 18 is prone to wear and must be replaced from time to time, and the prior art attachment arrangement shown in FIG. 1A is not user friendly when it comes time to replace cable 18. Specifically, the clamps 15 must be removed to allow the worn cable to be removed, a new cable must be routed through thimble 13, the cable length must be preset via the hydraulic actuating system and a come along device (i.e. a cable puller) to remove slack from the cable, and then the cable must be clamped by clamps 15. This is time consuming. More importantly, because attachment of cable end 20 to frame 12 is critical from a safety standpoint, the skill of the technician in attaching the new cable to frame 12 is important. If the new cable is not properly routed through thimble 13, or if the clamps 15 are not properly tightened, the attachment may fail. Such a failure has the potential to cause injury or death. For this reason, cable replacement is typically conducted only by skilled technicians trained in the replacement operation. Therefore, a skilled technician is forced to travel to a truck maintenance location, or the truck must be brought to a location where there is a skilled technician who can safely replace the cable. This introduces down time for the roll-off vehicle and adds cost to the cable replacement operation.
FIG. 1B shows another known arrangement for attaching an end 20 of a cable 18 to a frame 12. In the arrangement of FIG. 1B, cable end 20 is provided with an end fitting 22 which may a swage button end fitting or like fitting that is enlarged relative to the cable 18 and is securely fastened thereto. Cable end 20 is attached to frame 12 by a block 17 fastened to frame 12 by a plurality of fasteners 19. More specifically, a portion of cable end 20 is routed through a channel in block 17 such that an end face of end fitting 22 abuts with an opposing face of block 17. This prior art arrangement involves adapting the frame 12 for fastening block 17 by welding the fastening block 17 to the frame 12; an existing attachment opening in frame 12 is not utilized.